Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s carmakers led by Toyota Motor Corp., refiners and utilities said carbon-emission targets set by the Democratic Party of Japan may hurt their industries.

The DPJ, which swept to power yesterday, promised during the election that it would cut the country’s carbon emissions by 25 percent by 2020 compared with the level of 1990. Japan is the world’s fourth-largest energy user.

“We are concerned about feasibility,” of the DPJ’s planned cuts, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Chairman Satoshi Aoki said in a faxed statement today. The concerns are based on “the impact on economic activities and employment and the magnitude of burden on people.”

DPJ Leader Yukio Hatoyama’s emissions target, twice the goal set by the defeated Liberal Democratic Party, may require a carbon tax on big emitters, including power utilities and refiners, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts have said. Utilities would need to switch to renewable power and slash coal and oil use, they said. Refiners, already grappling with falling demand, may see earnings come under increased pressure, they said.

“The DPJ’s policies are unrealistic and place a burden on those industries,” said Yuuki Sakurai, chief executive officer of Fukoku Capital Management Inc. in Tokyo. “It would cost a huge amount of money to switch all cars into electric vehicles or put solar panels on homes.”

Japan’s Emissions

Japan, a signatory to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, promised to reduce emissions of gases blamed for global warming by 6 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. Output increased about 9 percent in the year ended March 2008, environment ministry data shows.

The DPJ’s goal is “a very high hurdle,” the Petroleum Association of Japan said in a statement released in Tokyo. The cuts will have a “severe impact,” the Federation of Electric Power Companies said in another statement.

Toyota, Honda Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and the other members of the auto group said today the new government should take the opinions of industry groups and the impact on the economy into consideration before implementing policies.

The DPJ should detail how it will go about achieving its policy, and it should maintain a mix of both renewable energy such as solar power and oil to guarantee a stable supply, the petroleum group said today. Japan should keep nuclear power central to its energy policy, the power federation said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kiyori Ueno in Tokyo at kueno2@bloomberg.netShigeru Sato in Tokyo at ssato10@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 31, 2009 01:33 EDT